When Mmusi Maimane took it upon himself to announce that Day Zero would not be happening this year, Capetonians weren’t too impressed with the way the whole drought situation had been handled.

At the core, we felt we had been lied to.

So, to get back at the City, my next shower was just a little bit more indulgent than usual.

Now, it turns out that Capetonians might be paying out of their pocket for water, as the City of Cape Town’s draft budget‚ tabled at Wednesday’s council meeting‚ “proposes a 27% rise in water tariffs from July 1”, reports Times LIVE.

So, we use less but still pay the same? The City is probably struggling without the additional income from our exorbitant usage of water a few years ago, but I am sure they can find that money somewhere else.

It’s called getting creative.

However, if the proposal goes through, things will only get worse: in 2019, there will be 30,45% increase‚ followed by a 22% rise in 2020/21.

They really could give back and sort out something in return. Maybe work on public transport? I guess access to sanitation is a basic necessity they should concentrate on sometime soon.

But I digress, the result of the draft budget is this: between July 1 this year and July 1‚ 2020, the price of water will double.

Our favourite, Xanthea Limberg‚ the mayoral committee member for water‚ waste and energy‚ told a media briefing the drought was to blame:

“Much of the increased tariff will be about recovery from 2017/18 [when revenue from water reached only 73% of the target as consumers slashed usage]‚” she told a media briefing before the council meeting.

“It is also about funding augmentation schemes to adapt to the impact of the drought.”

Not only are we going to have to deal with an increase in VAT on a national front  – which the DA firmly opposes, by the way – and water on a local, but the City’s proposed budget contained these numbers, too:

With consumer price inflation at 4%‚ other proposed tariff increases all outpace it: rates at 7.2%‚ electricity at 8.14%‚ sanitation at 26.96% and refuse removal at 5.7%.

But mayoral committee member for finance‚ Johan ver der Merwe‚ said all the increases were based on the city council’s CPI projection of 5,5% for 2018/19.

Making progress possible, hey? But for who?

Perhaps it’s time you took the plunge and stocked up with a whole lot of 25 litre containers and headed to a spring near you, so you don’t have to pay a cent.

At least not for water.

[source:timeslive]